Kiev And Pro-russia Separatists

French President Francois Hollande today offered to host talks on the situation in Ukraine with his German, Russian and Ukrainian counterparts, as a February truce finally appeared to be holding.

Ukraine's new president-elect promised Monday to negotiate an end to a pro-Russia insurgency in the east and said he was willing to begin talks with Moscow. Yet he described the separatists as "Somali pirates" and authorities in Kiev launched an airstrike against the militants occupying a major eastern airport.

Armed separatists took control of a city in eastern Ukraine on Saturday and Kiev prepared troops to tackle what it called an "act of aggression by Russia", pushing the conflict between the neighbours into a dangerous new phase.

French President Francois Hollande today offered to host talks on the situation in Ukraine with his German, Russian and Ukrainian counterparts, as a February truce finally appeared to be holding.

Ukraine's new president-elect promised Monday to negotiate an end to a pro-Russia insurgency in the east and said he was willing to begin talks with Moscow. Yet he described the separatists as "Somali pirates" and authorities in Kiev launched an airstrike against the militants occupying a major eastern airport.

Armed separatists took control of a city in eastern Ukraine on Saturday and Kiev prepared troops to tackle what it called an "act of aggression by Russia", pushing the conflict between the neighbours into a dangerous new phase.